Having a few years of experience cleaning hunted duck of shot and preparing it in multiple different ways for extremely demanding French chefs & clientele, I have hit upon one way of preparation that I truly love when it comes to duck breast; so that the end result is a moist breast with extra crispy skin and nicely rendered duck fat.

Duck Tamarind Sliced

The technique is easy: heat a sauté pan until it’s smoking hot (no oil) and place duck breast skin side down. As soon as you hear the sizzle of fat hit the pan turn the heat down to low and cook slow, without moving it, until you can begin to see the sides of duck breast start to turn grey-ish brown (just after the fat layer) about 4 to 5 minutes. If there is a lot of fat under the skin then this step might take longer.

From here you can remove the remove the breast and finish the cooking later. Or, to serve it up immediately, turn the heat back up to medium-high and “kiss” the breast on the other side for two minutes – just until the sides no longer look raw and the meat has a little spring to it when pressed on. Let rest and then slice.

I like the idea of keeping this dish light and fresh for Valentine’s Day but still satisfying and earthy. The salad is a combination of peppery watercress with shaved sunchoke (they taste a little like jicama raw), marinated red spring onion, roasted mitake and hon-shemeji mushrooms, and winter citrus – in this case blood orange and persian lime segments.

Watercress, sunchoke, roasted mushroom, & persian lime salad

Persian limes are very sweet, so don’t be fooled by their yellow color. The vinaigrette is a mixture of persian lime juice and the marinated spring onion vinegar. Sunchokes are best shaved last minute as they tend to discolor like apples. I peel them before shaving.

Tamarind Sauce: Place tamarind in a small saucepot with water. Simmer until soft then strain in a chinois pressing pulp through. Add liquid back to the saucepot with blood orange juice and reduce to one half. Add duck jus and reduce again. If the sauce is a too sour from the tamarind add a teaspoon of sugar. After duck breast is done cooking, remove from pan and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat. Add tamarind jus and cook until it forms a sauce thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If desired breast can be laquered with sauce.

Duck: Season breast generously with sea salt on both sides. Remove petit filet from the breasts if still attached. Heat a sauté pan until it's smoking hot (no oil) and place duck breast skin side down. As soon as you hear the sizzle of fat hit the pan turn the heat down to low and cook slow without moving it until you can begin to see the sides of duck breast start to turn grey-ish brown (just after the fat layer) about 4 to 5 minutes. If there is a lot of fat under the skin then this step might take longer.

From here you can remove the remove the breast and finish the cooking later. Or, to serve it up immediately, turn the heat back up to medium-high and "kiss" the breast on the other side for two minutes – just until the sides no longer look raw and the meat has a little spring to it when pressed on. Let rest and then slice.

Salad: Marinate sliced red spring onions in enough champagne vinegar just to cover. Segment blood oranges and persian limes as desired (I prefer little bites). Heat a small skillet on medium high and add a teaspoon of olive oil. Sear mushroom once oil begins to smoke, season with salt, and remove to a plate as soon as they release their juices, reserve. Shave peeled sunchokes on a mandoline super thin just before serving. Make the vinaigrette with 2 tablespoons of the oinon vinegar, 2 tablepoons persian lime juice, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss everything together and serve alongside duck.

Helen! Great question! I prefer duck skin unscored. Mostly because I like to slice duck before serving and scoring doesnt lend itself to clean slices. Also I find the duck fat renders beautifully without scoring if cooked hot then low and slow. I think it’s more of a personal preference. Also if the skin is not scored the Breast meat will cook slower and stay juicy. If the fat is over a half inch scoring is a good way to go. But again, I really think the difference comes down to presentation and style!

I’m going to have to try the hot pan method because I’ve always started in a cold pan and then brought up the temperature to medium/low to carefully render the fat. The duck breasts I get here are magrets from the production of foie gras so there’s a fairly thick fat layer to get through.

Thanks Wattacetti! I know those gorgeous fat duck breasts that you’re talking about and this might be a case for scoring the fat layer because it is much MUCH thicker than our Liberty and Peking duck breasts. But, I also find that duck fat renders fairly quickly regardless.

You can still put them in a searing hot pan, just turn down the heat very very low and let them ride low and slow until rendered.

I’m really picky about fat being rendered and I find many restaurants don’t do this adequately which often ruins the dining experience for me, but you know, I’m weird like that.

Thanks Het! Yes, they are candied citrus and I didn’t include the recipe but I can if you want? They are actually mandrinquats and limequats. The citrus looks like little torpedos and they are both pretty sour but the rind is sweet and heavily perfumed. I made a heavy simple syrup and tossed them in (I did not blanch them first as is the normal protocol with candied citrus). Then let them cool. Then I used the simple syrup that had the essence in cocktails. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself!